By the way…I have two more converts!!! After letting buddies ride a bike with *soul…(bikes with Record). *Both have decided that Durachee is no longer the groupset for them. One ordered a new Litespeed (Aluminum) with Chorus 10 and Protons (from Colorodo Cyclist…yuck)…the other a Cervelo P3 that will have a Chorus/Record mix.
Both had been long time ShimaNO riders…
Just doing my part (I am like a Jahovass Witness for Campy…I will be knocking on your door soon enough).
Also…I did notice that there are MANY Campy bikes in this months magazines…Chris Lieto among the bunch…
I just pulled an all-nighter to re-do the bike page, do a “sneak preview” of the HED bike (you guys have already seen the photos, they are the ones we sent over to Gary at Time Trial.org) and finish up a review on the Cervelo Dual we’ve been working on for three months. We put up a new editorial this morning and the new “bikes” page from the top menu. The Dual review and the HED bike thing go up tomorrow morning, the Campy vs. Shimano thing goes up the day after that.
Huge project. Fun though, and we all learned quite a bit.
Should be pretty easy to qualify for Kona now that your buddies have switched to Campy.
Nope…these are cyclists…not tri geeks. One is Cat3, the other is just a rider.
Art, why does Record10ti need a new handle? Have Campag brought out an eleven speed groupset? I know Shimano hasn’t, they have only just released their ten speed!
Record10ti, Here’s a naive question for you that’s not intended as a troll- it’s an honest question. My perception is that much of the “feel” (or soul, if you will) of a grouppo is in the interface points, namely the shifters and brakes. I can buy the argument that a Campy ergopower lever might feel different (better?) than a Shimano STI shifter, but on a tri bike can you really feel the difference? Bar-end shifters are pretty soul-less things, and brake levers on a tri bike are aftermarket anyway. OK- the calipers might contribute to the feel a little, but I would bet that the brake pads and rim material contribute way more than the caliper. By your own admission, crank stiffness is irrelevant, so that interface point should be transparent. Really what it comes down to on a tri bike is the rear der. Do you really feel that much of a difference in a Campy vs Shimano rear der? (I’m not talking serviceability, durability, looks, weight, or anything like that- simply feel).
Being a Shimano rider all my life, your passion has piqued my curiosity. I don’t consider myself a “princess” (as in princess and the pea) on the bike. For example, I can’t feel the difference in Q factor between my road bike with a triple and my tri bike with a double. Am I really going to feel a difference? I guess I may have to hunt someone with a campy tri bike down to see, but the logical part of me has a tough time understanding how there can be this earth-shattering difference. Perhaps it defies logic, and it’s simply the enjoyment of riding something with “exclusivity” that adds the soul, which I’m OK with too. But in that case let’s at least admit that the difference is largely in one’s head. (Note that I’m certainly not innocent of this, as I gladly paid the extra $$ for a P3 vs a P2K even though I knew damn well that it probably wouldn’t be worth an extra second for me.)
Yes I can “feel” a Campy shift over a Shimano Shift. Campy is very crisp and purposeful in the gear changes and “snaps” into gears (I have my springs quite tight also). Others around me say that they know when I am about to drop them cause the hear my chain snap into the next smaller cog (I really like that). The fact is that I like to know my shifts…other like the super smooth shimano shifts that are hardly felt (then again I love to shift my cars hard too). I am so hard nosed about it because it seems the Tri market is missing out on such a wonderful alternative to the Jap 600lbs gorilla…and becuase I have years of pedal time telling me that the Campy groups are a better option than the Shimano groups…with a MUCH lower total cost of ownership than Shimano wares.
I know that some of you are joking, but I think I would kill a man to get a set of good quality steel rings and cassettes. I’d gladly trade 3 ounces for never buying another set of rings.
I was once Alivio7fe(MTB), and I NEVER had to buy rings or cassettes. And in retrospect, it shifted no worse than my XT rig does now(POS).
Don’t make me bring Mr.Tibbs into this! You know Customerjon is dead!
Well, the new handle suits and is sure to come in handy once Tom gets his review up…